HALO Talks: Elevating Wellness

Aileen Hoffman is the VP for the National Sunrise Walks ,, a series of walks to help raise funds for the incredible Sunrise Association . "It's been an unbelievable 15 year journey serving thousands of children impacted by pediatric cancer," she states. Their next event is June 4-6, Rise Up for Sunrise . The Founder Arnie Preminger, realized a while back that there was not a single day camp in the...

A former student-athlete and author of #sponsored: How Athletes & Brands Can Leverage Each Other to Create Value , Jasmine Chou chats with Pete about the differences between--and ways companies approach--both amateur and pro sponsorships, concrete steps on approaching companies, the three types of amateur sponsorships, how recent changes in the NCAA have impacted the sponsorship community, challen...

Kaumil Gajrawala is the author of a seminal, recently released (April 6, 2021) initiating coverage report from Credit Suisse titled, Wellness Sector Initiation: An Apple a Day which can be downloaded here .  "We think HALO will be a $7 trillion industry. Not every piece will be a winning piece . . . but at the end of the day you're talking about something growing very significantly on a global bas...

A former NHL Hall of Famer, (Top 100 all time NHL), Stanley Cup Champion, NHL MVP and 2x Olympic Gold Medalist (4x Olympian,) and now President of Well Inspired Travels , Chris has gone "all in" on his strong beliefs around the "healing power of travel, and how it can take your personal and professional life to that next level." A family owned business, their agency caters to elite athletes, enter...

Sal has been in the industry since 1979, first as a club owner and then in 1984 when he moved to selling equipment. "You have to put yourself in the position of the customer . . . you have to see what's happening in the field and need boots on the ground. You need to see what customers are doing!" he states. He recently returned from his first 6 day road trip post-COVID and brings good news! He gi...

A former investment banker for almost 24 years with entrepreneurship in his DNA, Todd is the CEO of Title Boxing Club and Co-Founder of Box Union . He chats with Pete about his experiences going from banking into the entrepreneurial world of building a brick and mortar business from the ground up. On the parallels (and differences) between the two, he jokes, "Investment banking is an unbelievable...

"We're going into these deals with the intent of partnering with Founders, that they're going to continue to be involved, and the last thing we want or need is for them to be surprised or disappointed with something along the way," states Rob Fioretti, Managing Director of Palladin Consumer Retail Partner s. Rob has been in the private equity space for more than 25 years and in this chat with Pete...

"We do not have any tech available that's better than our ears and our mouths . . . we've spent 300,000 years becoming the best communicators this planet has ever seen using our voices and our ears," states Celeste Headlee , a journalist for over 20 years, author and TED Talk speaker whose video hit over 24 million views. "Email is not faster, is more prone to miscommunication, and makes people mo...

Eleiko is a Swedish based, 60+ year, family owned, seminal brand in the HALO sector founded in 1920's which has a massive following among strength athletes globally. "Quality has always been at the core of what we do," states Erik Blomberg, CEO. "We want to bring design into strength equipment, an area that's been lacking for many years . . . We're looking to create the ultimate lifting experience...

Praveen Kashyap is the CEO of Smart Health Clubs and a self- professed, "Born inventor, engineer, and now entrepreneur!" He came to the USA in 1987, did his Ph. D in Computer Science, and among his many other achievements, led the Samsung digital R&D group for the very first smart TV. He partnered with Mike Alpert, COO, and a 20+ year industry veteran. "We took the vision Mike had of single platfo...

"Exercising at home is unstructured. As great as it is . . . there's nothing more beneficial than being in a gym with a good personal trainer . . . clarifying that what you've read online is what you should (or shouldn't!) be doing . . . I don't buy into the idea that gyms and health clubs are dead," says Dr. Reardon, Founder of FitnessGenes and long time fan of the industry. In this provocative,...

"bodyART comes from an understanding of Western science as well as Eastern philosophy to 'help bridge the gap' in movement," states former professional dancer and bodyART Training Studios Director and Owner, Ryan Beck. Ryan appeared often on stage, TV, and movies and eventually, dancing took its toll. He found his way to bodyART and was instrumental in establishing a variety of collaborations with...

"We've seen an incredible amount of growth in the HALO (Health, Active Lifestyle, Outdoor) sector for the past 10-15 years. I love the space, the industry, and its passion and energy!" states Barry Herbst from The Elliott Group   where he's been for 5 years. Founded 38 years ago (and now with 18 search consultants and 20 analysts!) Pete and Barry chat about job hunting, the benefits of using a rec...

A former Wall Street executive, Rick caught the entrepreneur bug and for the past 10 years has been running Wash Club , now in 75 cities and 4 countries. "COVID took a bite out of us, but on the upside we're definitely starting to see things trickle back in to place." Rick and Pete chat about the the pros and cons of providing towels internally versus externally. ("Stick to what you're good at and...

Live Oak is a niche lender in 30 different industries. "We're niche lenders within a niche space. . . focusing more on tried and true, well rounded fitness concepts and established, multi-unit borrowers and providing them with a debt platform to allow them to grow," states Aaron DiGregorio who focuses on the HALO sector. Learn more about tranche financing, leverage ratios ("we don't like to go bey...

Jim was a former "rainmaker" and partner at three different investment banks on Wall Street for most of his adult life. He's written 7 different books, has a documentary about fitness and aging well on PBS , and recently turned 80. He says he's now in the "inspiration business" after being, for years, a "certified couch potato!" The Wall Street Journal named his book Just Move , one of the 5 best...

"The cool thing about dance as fitness is that you don't necessarily have to focus on what you look like doing it. . .you're just focusing on movement and the well-being of your body without having to worry as much about performing," states Andrea Fornarola, Founder of Elements Fitness Studio. Andrea was always a professional dancer, and she got her start on the fitness side at the well-known Phys...

When asked about how the industry has been responding since COVID, Eddie Tock, CEO of REX Roundtables states, "I think it's great to see the industry coming together in a stronger way. I still think we have a long way to go outside of the traditional for-profit clubs to really make an impact on the national and state levels with the media, and with state legislations that are out there." He and Pe...

"I'm a lifer!" states Frank Ancharski, industry veteran and owner of Club Coach Services . "I've been in it since leg warmers were around, The Step® was just coming out, StairMaster wasn't a reality yet, and there was the duo-chest from Nautilus," he jokes. Frank is bullish on an "epic comeback" and in this chat with Pete, they discuss the reopening of the industry and how to manage it, customer s...

Matt Richter is President of the Thiagi group and, in his second appearance on HALO Talks ( first one here ,) he and Pete continue their in depth conversation on learning, development, and training. With regards to COVID, Matt states, "We were able to share, and demonstrate that live online learning can be as effective as in person . . . If things are done and designed well, you get the same level...

A long time industry veteran, Glenn states, " Neighborhood Trainers was meant to be kind of a combination of a dating site and real estate listings as a way to help people find the right trainer." He got the inspiration (a while back) when people were still posting flyers on bulletin boards. (They're still out there and they still work!) Pete and Glenn chat about how trainers were forced to evolve...

"For every W2 employee you have, you could be eligible for up to $5,000 per employee depending on your particular fact pattern. This is not a loan. You don't have to pay it back. It's not income tax. It's a payroll tax credit. It's above the line," states Adam Taplinger from Tax Credit Co. Adam and Pete chat about the critical Employee Retention Credit (that you need to know about!) how to use it,...

"The problem that trainers are looking to solve is finding and keeping new clients. For clients? They don't need another tool to find new content. They want the 'answer.' Jijo is a match.com for clients, and a Shopify on steroids for trainers," states Charles Friedberg, Founder & CEO. Charles has 25 years in financial services and as a (former) 'outsider' looking in to the HALO sector, he found a...

"The pandemic either will make you stronger, or will force you to get out of the way for new technology and new ideas. But I think a lot has been the same. Connecting with members in a deeper way is a big part of this. . . A huge portion of the value of a membership is the social experience. I can't see that ever really changing," states long time industry veteran, Rich Novelli. Pete and Rich touc...

 "Brands are very powerful. It is the ultimate moat. When someone has built something that resonates with a lot of consumers and drives passion, that's when something is investible," states Jon Canarick. North Castle is one of the first, and most highly regarded private equity investors in the HALO sector. Pete and Jon discuss how North Castle evaluates a company, what they track, how to approach,...